Blisstortion

Well we are all back home, minus a few (many) liver and brain cells but with a few (many) great experiences to fill the void. It was a wonderful “bucket list” adventure, and words will never describe how great it was to do this with dad and my wonderful brother Chris.  But you know me, so you will now get a bunch of words anyway!  First of all for all the cliches of German precision and system-obsession, it is always great to be in a place where things just work. Things work on a meta level in Bavaria where air conditioners automatically shut off if you open a window and the entire rooms electricity is breakered by your card/key…insert your card in the slot inside your door and all the lights come on. Remove the card as you leave, and the lights all go off. Wunderbar!

What else is cool—pretzels, covered in hulled pumpkin seeds, sliced in half and buttered. Sacriledge maybe, but if I were given the choice here it would easily replace my morning bagel.

A clean if somewhat elaborate and slightly confusing mass transit system that largely runs on an honor system. The threats of a 40 euro ($60) fine if “audited” almost seem like a fair gamble for the students and working poor.

Now we were there for a particular event. Oktoberfest, which I had always guessed was most likely a fall “harvest” type festival, is actually a national celebration of the wedding of the Bavarian prince Ludwig to Princess Therese. Cool huh?  Right history lesson over. Great gazillion litres of specially brewed beer. Beer that smiles sweetly and then clobbers you (well after about 5 litres anyone would be clobbered).

Mein Papa was quite the supertrooper cause keeping up with Chris and me is no easy feat. We are told that almost 7 million litres are downed during the festival and over a half million heindl (chickens) give their lives to slake the drunken munchies.
The crowds are unbelievable, truly, and it is a testament to organization and human spirit that the vibe is always positive and happy (but slurred as only this vibe can be).

I could write more but have sworn secrecy to my partners. It’s for the best to say that great memories were made, only to be ceremoniously drowned in a river of weissenbier. This was as it should be.  Danke Schoen,  Darling, Danke Schoen!